Instant Replay: Temple 82, La Salle 74

Instant Replay: Temple 82, La Salle 74

Behind the best performance of senior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson's college career, Temple cruised to an 82-74 win over La Salle at at the Liacouras Center Thursday night to claim a share of the Big 5 championship.

With both teams at 3-1 against the Big 5, Temple and La Salle will share the 2012-13 title. It's Temple's city-best 27th title dating back to 1955 and the third time in the last four seasons the Owls have won at least a share of the title.

For La Salle, it's just the first time the Explorers have won a share of the title since 1998. It would have been the program's first outright win since 1990, Lionel Simmons' senior year.

Instead, the Explorers fell to 18-7 overall and 8-4 in Atlantic 10 play, while Temple improved 18-8 and 7-5.

Turning pointWhat began as a tight game gave way to an 18-1 Temple run to close the first half, with the Owls ahead 39-25.

After leading 18-13, La Salle recorded just one field goal in the final 13 minutes of the half and one point in the final 7:54 on a Ramon Galloway foul shot with less than a minute remaining before the break. The Explorers opened 8 for 13 from the floor, and made only one of their next 15 attempts to finish the half 9 of 28 from the field and 2 of 9 from three.

Over the first five minutes of the second half, Temple actually stretched its lead to as much as 22 points. La Salle continued to chip away, cutting its deficit to as little as nine with 9:09 and 5:35 to play but never got any closer until the final buzzer. Sam Mills hit a three, Ramon Galloway stole the ball and hit a jumper as time expired to reduce the final margin to just eight.

B.M.O.C.Hollis-Jefferson led all scorers and rebounders, setting two new career highs with 23 points and 17 rebounds for the fourth double-double of his college career. His nine field goals on 13 shots were also a season high.

In the race for the A-10 Player of the Year award, Temple's Khalif Wyatt bested Ramon Galloway with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Galloway, by comparison, had no trouble getting to the rim, but just couldn't finish when he got there. He finished with an inefficient 14 points, going 7 of 9 from the line but a gross 3 of 14 from the floor.

• The Owls were also poor from the foul line, going 17 of 29 to La Salle's 15 of 19.

• Temple did, however, shoot 50 percent from the floor by game's end.

Next upBoth teams are off until Sunday afternoon. Temple will travel to Charlotte for a 4 p.m. meeting with the 49ers. Temple won the first meeting 89-88 at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 6. La Salle, meanwhile, heads north to Rhode Island for a 2 pm. tip with the Rams.

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Public opposition is growing against the planned induction of former football star Michael Vick into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

The Roanoke Times reported Tuesday that two online petitions at change.org had received more than 90,000 combined signatures against the September induction. The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine has also announced its opposition.

The university in Blacksburg has continued to defend its recent decision, noting that some believe Vick is the greatest athlete in school history.

Vick served 19 months in federal prison on 2007 dogfighting convictions. He was a top contender for the 1999 Heisman Trophy after leading the Hokies through an undefeated regular season and to a spot in the national championship game. He went on to play professionally for the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.

Former 76er and La Salle basketball star Doug Overton pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly conduct Wednesday, stemming from an April 30 incident on the Cynwyd Heritage Trail.

Overton, 47, was arrested for exposing himself to both men and women while on the trail in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, on April 30, per the police.

Overton, the head basketball coach at Divison II Lincoln University, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to participate in a psycho-sexual evaluation.

As part of a plea deal, three counts of indecent exposure were dropped.

“He admitted on the record that his behavior was offensive and obscene, it was obscene behavior and that other people that were there in the park that day enjoying a public area with their families, that they observed that and it was offensive and obscene to them,” Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood told the Main Line Times. “He admitted to engaging in behavior that was obscene and offensive.”

The Big 5 Hall of Famer played 11 NBA seasons, including parts of three with the Sixers.